Now available on DVD
Cast:
Willem Dafoe as Stan
Scott Speedman as Carl Uffner
Peter Stormare as Blair Collet
Clea DuVall as Sandy Strickland
Directed by Henry Miller
Review:
If David Fincher’s Se7en was re-made by a first-year art school student, the result would look a lot like Anamorph. This psychological thriller draws upon some intriguing art concepts, but does not use them to their full potential. Furthermore, solid performances and good cinematography cannot salvage the film from a poor script and tired thriller clichés. It may be a meaningful lesson in art history, but it falls short of being a good suspense film.
Dafoe plays Stan Aubray, a weathered NYPD detective who, after a five-year hiatus, is called upon to track down a serial killer. His last case involved a string of murders where the victims were made into gruesome works of art. The culprit, nicknamed “Uncle Eddie” by the press, was supposedly killed by police. Riddled with doubt and guilt from that case, Det. Aubray is reluctantly drawn back to the force to find this latest killer, a presumed copycat. As he is pulled deeper into the investigation, Aubray is tormented by his foe’s increasingly horrific killings and haunted by the possibility that Uncle Eddie may still be alive.
The film’s title refers to the concept of Anamorphosis, a Renaissance painting technique in which an artist exploits the laws of perspective to display multiple images on a single canvas. In other words, a piece could take on an entirely different meaning when viewed at another angle. One famous example is Holbein’s painting “The Ambassadors” in which a skull becomes visible when the picture is viewed at an angle. In Anamorph, the killer arranges his victims – or parts – in such a way that a clue can be found when detectives occupy the correct vantage point. The concept is cleverly incorporated into the killings, albeit sometimes over-the-top.
Writers Tom Phelan and H.S. Miller also allude to other art history factoids, like Francis Bacon’s obsession with painting the same image over and over, but in increasingly distorted ways. This works itself into the killings, too, as the murderer becomes obsessed with Aubray and incorporates him into the artworks. The villain also has a fondness for anagrams, which of course are words that take on new meaning when the letters are rearranged. All these intriguing concepts provide a unique foundation for the film, but the writers failed to develop the rest of the movie. Character development is virtually nonexistent and the script is riddled with holes.
Willem Dafoe turns in a committed performance as usual, but one cannot help but wonder why he agreed to be in this film. He adds a level of class to an otherwise second-rate movie, but it does nothing for his résumé. Peter Stormare also plays a small, intriguing role as an art dealer. The audience is never entirely sure who he is or if he is even real. Whether this was intended or just poor character development is unclear. Both actors are good and quite honestly above this movie.
Rounding out the cast are Scott Speedman as a young detective and Clea Duvall as a former junkie. Both roles are one-dimensional and fairly worthless. Aubray is the only character with an ounce of development. Dafoe shows subtle quirks and OCD-like attributes that tell us about his personality. There is no such development from the others, who are merely plot devices. The movie also has two completely random cameos from Mick “Mankind” Foley and Deborah Harry (Blondie). The latter is especially frustrating because both the scene and her appearance in it are pointless. Furthermore, there is a nosey female reporter who keeps reappearing in the film, and then ultimately disappears. No explanation, no purpose for her existence. This film definitely knows how to waste time.
Anamorph follows in the footsteps of cat-and-mouse killer thrillers like Kiss the Girls and especially Se7en. Like the latter, it has a serial killer with a unique MO, hunted by a weary veteran detective and his cocky young partner. But unlike that predecessor, Anamorph lacks the requisite level of suspense for this genre. The crime scenes are few and far between and the killer is not very menacing. The film’s biggest downfall is its slow pace. It starts off with an interesting murder scene, and then drags on with meaningless conversations and other filler. It all builds to an ending that could have been a wonderful mind-fuck, but is instead an anticlimactic mess.
Director H.S. Miller gives the film a nice brooding look, but his skills at pulling a film together are lacking. He and his co-writer seem content to proclaim “Look what we know about art!” and ignore the necessities of making a good film. To their credit, Anamorphosis is a fantastic starting point for this genre, and they do find creative ways to incorporate it into the killer’s technique. Unfortunately, the final result just comes across like a poor copycat of the better thrillers that have preceded it.
